Overtime frustrations. What we learned in the Hornets’ loss in New York
Through these initial eight days of the season, there has been one constant for the Charlotte Hornets: suitcases.
Luggage is an essential part of their equipment thanks to a road-heavy schedule, one that continued with their matchup with New York on Wednesday night. The Hornets had won both of their previous games away from home in convincing fashion and their date with the Knicks at Madison Square Garden was their latest chance to see exactly what they could do without LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier and Cody Martin.
Despite being undermanned yet again, they actually erased a double-digit second-half deficit and actually had an opportunity to keep their road record unblemished. But Gordon Hayward missed a 5-foot floater at the end of regulation, forcing overtime, and the Hornets squandered a late five-point, fourth-quarter edge and succumbed to New York 134-131.
“They should be disappointed,” coach Steve Clifford said. “We were up five with like 2:20 left and we made two mistakes on big possessions. And that’s when you’ve got to be at your best. Yeah, we certainly are disappointed.
“It’s early in the year and no matter what we have to learn from things. But we’ve got to get our pick-and roll-defense going. It was a lot better the other night in Atlanta and tonight it was just not close to good enough.”
PJ Washington’s potential-game tying 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left in overtime was deemed a 2-pointer after the officials ruled via video review that his right foot was on the 3-point line — albeit barely — and the Knicks sealed it with a pair of RJ Barrett free throws.
“It’s a close game -- you never want to lose those,” said Dennis Smith Jr., who had 14 points, 11 assists and 3 rebounds against his former team. “But at the end of the day, you learn from it. That’s how I look at it. There’s nothing we can do now about it except watch the tape and get better.”
Here’s what we learned in the Hornets’ second loss of the season:
Hayward laments late woes
Who knows where the Hornets (2-2) would be without Hayward’s early season production. Although he missed that potential game-winner at the end of the fourth quarter, he poured in 21 points to go with 8 assists and 4 rebounds in 39 minutes.
Hayward had a huge hand in the Hornets hanging around in the third quarter. He netted 12 points in a row in the quarter, posting his first double-digit scoring quarter of the season. The veteran totaled 16 quarters with 10 or more points a season ago.
Overall, he accounted for 88.2% of the team’s points — 12 points, one assist, three points created from assists — through the first 7:41 of the third. But he lamented his struggles in the final two quarters. He went scoreless and misfired on all four shots, letting it fly just once in overtime.
“Yeah, just got to be better down the stretch,” said Hayward, who also had four first-half turnovers and added another in the second half. “Couldn’t get it going again. I had it going in the third and couldn’t find it in the fourth or overtime. I felt like I passed up some looks in there deep in the fourth and overtime, and could have taken them and let it go.
“I’ve just got to be better. I just individually need to be better.”
Another slow start
Playing from behind early has been a common theme for the Hornets in their previous two games and that didn’t change against the Knicks.
The Hornets dipped into a hole as large as 10 points in the first quarter and were forced to claw back into it. Defensively, they didn’t dig in good enough and allowed the Knicks to hit 9-of-14 shots inside the paint in the first quarter alone, yielding 18 of New York’s 32 points on the interior. The Knicks pounded them for 74 points inside overall.
Continuing to play catchup, especially while down three key rotation players, is not a recipe for success.
“For the most part tonight, it was just our defense and our rebounding,” Clifford said. “We’ve got to find a way to here because guys playing hard is not going to matter. Coming into tonight, it was a small sample size, but the one thing that’s stood out already is we are not finishing possessions.
“Our defensive rebounding numbers are poor. You can’t win – I mean, you can be a decent team and stuff, but you can’t be a factor against good teams if you can’t finish possessions.”
Maledon a find
When the Hornets shifted things on the tail end of their roster just prior to the start of the season, signing Theo Maledon to a two-way deal certainly didn’t create any seismic rumblings.
But it has turned out to be a productive under-the-radar move.
Maledon has stepped in as the backup point guard in their past two games and been more than serviceable with the Hornets in need of someone to give them solid backup minutes. Dennis Smith Jr. moving into the starting lineup with Ball and Rozier injured leaves a void in the reserve point guard role and Maledon was effective for the second straight game.
The 21-year-old, who played his first two seasons with Oklahoma City, nailed his initial 3-pointer against the Knicks and produced 15 points and three assists. He also drew a nice charge on Jalen Brunson near the tail end of the first half.
“I thought he was really poised and he shot the ball,” Clifford said. “He made two threes and had a couple of good drop offs in the paint and did a good job.”
This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 10:49 PM.
